The brand new Grand Manan ferry is still docked after both thrusters would not come on during it's morning run yesterday.

General Manager for Coastal Transport Murray Ryder tells CHSJ News staff and local electricians were not able to figure out the problem.

He says a representative from the company that attached the thrusters will be coming to Blacks Harbour today to evaluate the problem.There is no estimate as to how long the ship will be out of service.

He adds they are currently running 2 ferries in order to meet their schedule and motorists should not expect any major delays.

It's smooth sailing so far for the cost of infrastructure upgrades relating to the Peel Plaza project.

That, from Bill Edwards, the project manager who says the only unexpected cost crews have run into so far had to do with the disposal of contaminated material on Carleton Street.

Edwards says things are slightly behind schedule because of the complexity of the work with essentially the complete reconstruction of Union Street. He says much of it is being done by hand and crews have to watch out for live power lines that run right down the centre of the street.

Edwards says they're doing whatever they can to address the needs of the travelling public as well as the people who use the affected areas for business.

The Common Front for Social Justice is trying to disspell what it calls misconceptions about the recent increases in the minimum wage. Co-chair Linda McCaustlin disputes whether those raises have triggered job losses.

She tells CHSJ News there are other more compelling explanations such as the flat economy brought about by the financial meltdown with people having less money to spend, the drop in tourism and jobs losses in forestry.

She also refutes the notion that most of the people earning minimum wage are students. McCaustlin argues the majority, 17 thousand in the province, are women. McCaustlin points out small and medium sized businesses after lobbying are also getting alot of advantageous tax breaks from government.

The Alward Government is being warned by the insurance industry about adopting what it calls not radical alternatives to the current cap on what people can receive for soft tissue injuries.

One suggestion has been to get rid of the cap altogether but Bill Adams of the Insurance Bureau of Canada tells CHSJ News that would be radical and bring back the bad old days of skyrocketing premiums and some drivers not being able to get insurance at all.

As for paying a deductable from any court award you might receive, Adams argues that has not worked well in other provinces.

He maintains the cap has accomplished what it was supposed to and had no adverse effect on the medical coverage injury victims received.

According to Adams, raising the cap from 25 hundred to 75 hundred dollars which is what they have in Nova Scotia, would result in higher premiums for consumers.

Plan SJ will take a closer look at how airport land is designated under the new municipal plan.

Common Council is asking for the review after the airport expressed concerns about only being able to use land for development related to air travel which it considers too restrictive that might limit future revenues.

Councillor Peter McGuire says no one wants to stop the airport from growing, but it comes back to where people want to see their community grow and Saint Johnners have made clear they don't want to see sprawl.

Mayor Ivan Court warns the city has to be flexible because if we put the airport out of business, we put ourselves out of business.

For the first time this fall, the city will be using policy guidelines when it comes to designating ice time at it’s four rinks......the Hilton Belyea, the Charles Gorman, the Stu Hurley and the Peter Murray arenas.

Kevin Watson with the city says the new guidelines give priority to Saint John programs and young people.

Watson says the new guidelines also allot equal ice time to both men and women. He says girls hockey has really picked up in the city and the ice time needs to be split equally between the two genders.

The new guidelines will not affect ice times at Harbour Station or the Lord Beaverbrook Rink, which are independently owned.